Research Seminar by Jörg Steinwagner

How isotopologues of water can be used to learn about stratospheric transport mechanisms and chemistry

The isotopic composition of water changes according to the kind of physical processes atmospheric water is facing. The processes can be of different nature i.e. dynamic, chemical. With a good understanding of the effects of the relevant processes on the isotopic composition of water vapor it is possible to determine these processes by observation of the isotopic composition of water vapor, for instance in the stratosphere. This turns out to an incredible powerful tool to study Earth's atmosphere. The talk gives a example of this methodology by using MIPAS satellite observations to study the transport of water vapor through the UT/LS.